A Question of Romance: Part 1

The concept of having a social life at Beacon was more than she bargained for.

It had all started when Ruby began filling out in the middle of the first semester. Her breasts had gotten slightly larger, and she was beginning to grow her hair out a little, subsequently getting noticed by upperclassmen. Most students started attending Beacon around seventeen or eighteen years old, and that meant that by third and fourth year, students were adults well into their twenties.

The problem was, Ruby was only fifteen. A lot of them didn't know how young she was. When they approached her looking for dates, it wasn't a malicious thing, but that didn't keep Yang violently chasing the older boys away. To say the blonde had begun garnering something of an overprotective reputation, was an understatement. Ruby shook her head every time it happened, hoping that when she turned sixteen Yang might mellow out.

It seemed as if romance was in the air among the students of Beacon. Ruby was no stranger to the love affairs that seemed to go on around the campus. It wasn't uncommon to catch two students necking in the corners of the dorms, or tittering on as lost lovers in the common rooms. It was sickeningly sweet, the kind of thing that made Ruby wonder what all the fuss was about.

Why would anyone actually want to kiss in the first place? What on face of Remnant was so alluring about the naked body? Ruby had seen plenty of people in various stages of undress, and she had yet to figure it out. Since asking Yang such a question seemed like a completely bad idea, she turned to the one thing never to do her wrong.

Books.

The beloved escape was something she clung onto at first, delving deep into the pages of several recommendations to gather insight on the topic. Although, these were of the romantic variety, and not of the lore or academic sort she expected she'd be given. Ruby could hardly be sure of the sorts of things found in these sorts of books, and though she enjoyed a good story about falling in love, she was glad she hadn't been given anything out of the seedier side of Blake's rather massive collection.

In spite of reading several stories cover to cover, Ruby still couldn't even fathom why the idea of romance and love seemed to echo down the halls of Beacon. They were hunters in training, after all.

Sighing, she closed the latest book with a shake of her head. It didn't have any answers either and with a soft groan, she realized just how entirely unhelpful such a thing could be. Flicking her eyes over to the side of the room, one of the books on the lowest shelf got her attention. It was infamous among the team, and so beloved by Blake that none of them touched it.

Biting her lip, feeling as though she was about to commit some sort of terrible crime, she reached for the book and cracked it open.

Ninjas of Love…

She should have known better than to peer into such an abyss, but as she did, she was drawn to it like a kitten to water. With curiosity and trepidation, all rolled into one.

Ruby couldn't stop herself as morbid curiosity took over. One page turned into two, and two turned into thirty, and before Ruby knew it, she was face-to-face with a jumble of words that rather crassly described lovemaking in a way that she was neither prepared for, or knew how to cope with. Once again, she wrestled with the concepts of desire and romance, two completely odd things that hunters just shouldn't need.

She thought upon that as she flipped the page, too distracted to construct a proper alibi when the dorm room door opened. Blake caught her, nose practically pressed to the open page.

"Blake!"

"Hello, Ruby…" Her greeting was soft and bored sounding. Monotone at war with a tiny yawn. Golden eyes flicked over to the now fidgeting girl. "Are you okay? You seem tense."

"Fine." Ruby chirped too quickly for her own good. "I'm fine. Just a bit hyper I guess. Too many cookies before lunch, blood sugar spike, you know how it is."

"Hmm. Makes sense then. Well, just don't let Weiss catch you bouncing off the walls, she can't stand it." Blake said, turning to her bookshelf and putting away a few she had needed for class. In exchange, she pulled out one of her particularly trashy dime store novels that left noting to the imagination. Yang had given it to her as a gag gift, and it turned out to be surprisingly good. She settled in, starting from the beginning.

Ruby was quiet for a while until a thought came to mind. "Where is Weiss anyway?"

"With Pyrrha, I presume." She reached up and pulled her bow away from her ears. Wiggling them as she made herself comfortable. It had been a long day of practice with her weapon, and she was happy to succumb to the depths of her choice reading. "Ren and Nora were in sparring practice, and I was trying to help Jaune work on his landings. He's still a little too reliant that Pyrrha can catch him."

Ruby nodded, her words fixated on where Weiss had snuck off to this time. "They keep spending more and more time together…"

"Does that bother you?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that…"

"But, it is something." Blake fathomed aloud, setting her book off to the side and perching cross-legged on her bed. "Yang's going to be out for a while, but if you feel like talking, I'll listen."

"I just don't know how to explain it." Ruby shrugged. "I mean, Yang has always been the type of person to be in relationships with people. It's all I've ever known or expected out of her because being with people makes her happy. It's just, now Weiss too?" That was a more complicated matter entirely, and floored her. "Weiss is as uninterested in that kind of thing as could be, and she's still dating Pyrrha."

"It's different for them." Blake murmured thoughtfully before her voice grew louder in her conclusion. "They're arranged to be married after graduation."

"No one should date because they're forced to!"

"They're not being forced to." Blake sighed. "Weiss asked Pyrrha's parents for permission, they said yes. Then Pyrrha's parents called Weiss's to make it official, and to keep it from being a big public blowout and lesbian scandal the world over, Weiss's dad decided to cover it up by saying he arranged the entire thing…which isn't exactly untrue…he is paying for the wedding."

"Saving…face?" Ruby crossed her legs, toes curling in her stockings. "Why would they do that? I mean, why would they need to?"

"Because Atlas is a conservative place, Ruby, that's why. They don't think being gay is okay over there, but, people will ignore political unions."

"Yeah, well I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it, we live in Vale." Blake dismissed with a laugh. "Being discriminated against based on gender identity and sexual orientation has been outlawed for over three decades…it's just that not everyone thinks the way we do."

"I don't know, Blake. It all seems kind of messed up to me."

Blake smiled and shook her head. "Remember last week, when we walked in on them? Weiss was on Pyrrha's lap. That wasn't fabricated. It was an organic part of their relationship that we accidentally interrupted. Besides, Weiss didn't seem to want to move, even if she was as red as a tomato."

"So…she does want to be with Pyrrha?" Ruby asked. "Like, really, really wants to?"

"The two of them have more in common than we like to think. Pyrrha's more casual than Weiss, but deep down, they both have a lot to live up to. It probably feels good to spend time with someone who understands those types of social pressures…" She flicked her ears, and leaned back against her headrest.

"But what if her dad is still making her do that? What if they're just pretending to act happy?"

"Weiss, acting happy?" Blake shook her head. "I don't think it's about force, Ruby. I think it's what they want to do."

"Okay fine," Ruby pouted, "but what about you…"

"What about me?"

"You love these books…and you're really into all that stuff…why aren't you with anyone?"

Blake looked down at the floor, eyeing the mess. Crumpled wads of paper left behind by Yang. The blonde had clearly been trying hard to study. The singes in the paper implied it had not gone as well as Yang had wanted. That was the crux of Blake's issue. She knew what she wanted out of her future, but nothing ever seemed to work out.

"The problem is being with someone, has been rather unfulfilling. Dating just seems to backfire on me." Blake finally replied. It was as truthful as she could possibly be. "I want to be able to live my life as honestly as possible, and here in Beacon, I can't do that. Very few people know what I am, and of those, most are paired off…even if I wanted a relationship, it's not like I have many options open."

At least Ruby could understand that, nodding sadly. "Yeah, sorry about Yang…"

"No, don't be." Blake laughed earnestly. "That was one relationship I'm glad to have had, even if it didn't last very long. Yang needed more attention than I could give her, and I needed more space and personal time than she could put up with. What makes us great partners in battle, is what also makes it impossible to be more than friends. That, and Yang's huge on PDA. She needs someone equally as spontaneous, I can't keep up."

"Oh, that makes sense." Ruby hopped down from her bed, crossing the room to sit at the edge of Blake's own. "One last question…"

"Hmm?"

Ruby showed Blake the book she had gotten her hands on, opening the page to a rather explicit piece of artwork. Two naked women tangled together in chains,while a third touched the both of them. "Well, I was just wondering, is this…you know, normal? Like, do people really tie each other up like that in real life, or is this just weird and impossible. Like that whole tentacle porn thing that's going around?"

As if the book might burn her, Blake reached out to take it from Ruby, closing the cover. "Er, well…I mean…that kind of depends...I don't think we should talk about that though. You should ask Yang if you want to know about it." More than just a little embarrassed, she cleared her throat reached for something else to read. Something decidedly less likely to raise such uncomfortable questions. "Here, how about you read this instead? You'll probably like it better…it's not as…um…weird."

Ruby grasped the book in her hands, reading the title. "Ninjas of Love: The Crouching Kitten's Crush…yeah, okay, I think I'll give it a try."

Blake let out a sigh of relief, ear flicking worriedly, hoping Yang wouldn't kill her for corrupting their team's young leader.